194 REPTILES AND FISH 



The Baganda are fond of eating a small, very bony 

 fish that haunts shallow water ; they call it " E'nkeje," 

 and fish for it with rod and line, and then spike a number 

 on a sharp stick and dry them in the sun. This fish is 

 also much relished by kingfishers ; it may be a species 

 of perch. I saw one in shallow water off a sandy shore 

 very busily excavating a funnel shaped pit in the sand. 

 With great vigour it would push its snout along the bottom 

 until its mouth was filled with sand, and then swim a 

 little way away and discharge the load. Whether this 

 was destined for a spawning place I know not, but the 

 fish furiously drove away any too inquisitive neighbours. 



A very curious fish is termed " E'mbegede " by the 

 natives. It has a tubular snout turned down at right 

 angles, and presumably obtains its food from mud. I 

 saw the remains of one on Kimmi that had probably 

 been caught by an otter. 



Other fish well known to the natives are the " Semu- 

 tundu," a fish with long barbels, smaller than the Male, 

 but much the nicest to eat ; a very large Silurid, called 

 " Akasonzi " ; a species commonly sold in the market, 

 and much eaten by the English population at Entebbe, 

 called ** Ensoga," which somewhat resembles the roach ; 

 the beautiful but bony " Ekisinja," a barbel of deep olive- 

 green colour, usually caught with rod and line in shallow 

 water where ambatch grows ; and a small, very beautiful 

 silvery species netted in shallow water, called " Omukene " 

 — it is about the size of a minnow. 



